Campaign 2012

Report: Harry Reid Attacks Romney on Mormon Faith

Agrees with an author who says Romney has 'sullied' the Mormon religion.

By Jonathan Miller

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Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated when Reid made his remarks and when Mitt Romney would be visiting Nevada. Both were Friday, Sept. 21.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that Mitt Romney “is not the face of Mormonism,” and agreed with an author who said that Romney had “sullied” the Mormon religion, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

In a conference call with reporters on Friday, Reid said that he agreed with a blog post by Gregory A. Prince, a Mormon author who said he backed Romney's 2008 run for president, but was disappointed by Romney’s recent “47 percent” comments.

"He said that Romney has sullied the religion that he, Prince, and Romney share," Reid said in the call, adding, "And he’s so disappointed that, in his words, ‘it’s a good religion and he’s hiding from it.’”

Romney visited Reid's home state of Nevada on Friday. "He’s coming to a state where there are a lot of members of the LDS Church," Reid said in advance of the visit, adding, "They understand that he is not the face of Mormonism."

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Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah., who is also a Mormon, attacked Reid's comments. "Shame on them," he told The Tribune. "Harry Reid seems to be making this way too personal and consequently throwing the religion under the bus for his own personal gain. That’s not where anyone should be going with this. He’s taking this two steps too far."

In an email Tuesday, Kristen D. Orthman, a spokeswoman for Reid, said that he stands by his comments.